Medical License Defense

Strategic Legal Representation for Doctors & Health Care Providers

Doctors and health care providers are some of the hardest-working people in the country. If you actively practice medicine, it took you years to get where you are — and they weren’t easy years, either.

Your medical license probably ranks among your most valuable and proudest achievements. It signifies all the investment and sacrifice you made to build your career, not to mention your expert knowledge and your indispensable value to society.

Certainly, your medical license is the one piece of paper that makes everything else in your career possible. Without it, you cannot operate a practice, treat patients, or even get a job as a medical provider.

But after all that, it only takes one patient complaint, one mistake, or one misunderstanding to threaten your standing with the state medical board.

If you have recently received an administrative complaint or medical board complaint — or if the state has initiated any sort of investigation into your practice — now is the time to take strategic and decisive action to save your medical license.

Do not assume that the board will “see things your way” or that the complaints against you are “obviously” frivolous. Don’t make the mistake of rushing to judgment and blindly accepting invasive terms and conditions from the medical board either. Instead, commit yourself to handling this situation with the seriousness and strategy it demands.

If the medical board has issued notice of a complaint, hearing, or potential disciplinary action, then it likely already has reason to believe your situation may warrant revocation of licensure.

Oberheiden, P.C. is a national reach medical license defense firm that fights for the rights of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care providers all across the country. In the overwhelming majority of our cases, we have kept our clients in practice and their medical licenses in good standing.

Don’t take a gamble on your reputation or the future of your career. Contact a medical license defense lawyer in our office and talk about your options right away. The sooner we start fighting for you, the more effective we can be.

DUI, Positive Drug Tests, and Other Substance Abuse Issues

Impairment issues account for a large number of the medical license cases we handle. That’s due in large part to the very strict enforcement policies that most medical boards take when it comes to substance abuse — particularly when there is evidence of work-related drug use.

A positive drug screen will typically result in:

Your employer promptly notifying the state of the result

Immediate suspension of your medical license in that state

Subsequent suspension of your medical license in other states

A medical board hearing to determine whether your license should be reinstated or permanently revoked

We see similar consequences when a nurse or doctor gets a DUI. The state will usually respond quickly, and the medical board may attempt to impose a series of highly invasive and burdensome monitoring requirements.

Too many doctors act out of fear and simply sign onto whatever the state demands, hoping to make the whole situation go away. But you are more likely to achieve an optimal outcome by hiring an experienced medical license defense attorney.

At Oberheiden, P.C., we are able to defend our clients in the criminal matter and in the licensing matter. We have achieved a dismissal of all charges in a great many of our cases.

Drug Diversion

Drug diversion is the misappropriation of controlled substances. Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists are among the most common defendants in these cases, which typically trigger criminal proceedings, as well as medical license hearings. Our team can represent you on both fronts.

In our experience, many drug diversion cases are the result of simple mistakes (a Pyxis error, a good-faith oversight in the disposal of medications, a small mix-up in files, etc.) and should not lead to the end of a career or time in prison.

Medical License Revocation Due to Ethics or Standard of Care Issues

Many medical licensing disputes stem from issues related to the doctor’s practice or quality of care. These might include:

Ethical violations

Sexual harassment

Health code violations

Medical malpractice allegations

Failure to treat or diagnose

Death of a patient

Breach of duty / the standard of care

It is paramount that your lawyer has an in-depth understanding, not only of medical license defense strategy, but also of the underlying health care laws and the standard of care.

Other License & Suspension Matters

The foregoing issues are only a few of the common practice areas we handle as medical license lawyers. If you are facing a disciplinary issue different from those described here, please reach out to our office right away.

Can You Help Me If I Am Having Trouble Obtaining a Medical License?

The state has an obligation to consider your application for a medical license in good faith and in a timely manner.

If you have encountered repeated or continual delays in attempting to obtain a license, we may be able to help. Sometimes, having an experienced attorney advocate for your application can make the difference. Contact our office to talk about your situation and what your options might be.

How Do License Revocations Begin?

Losing your medical license usually begins with something very small. It can be an audit, a routine medical error, or an after-hours run-in with the law (such as a substance abuse arrest or a DUI).

In some cases, an investigation into someone else, such as an employee in your clinic, can drag you into the government’s crosshairs. Even an errant response to a simple request for information can lead to sanctions, disciplinary action, or the suspension / revocation of a medical license.

For this reason, we urge you to contact our office as soon as possible, even if you haven’t yet received formal notice of a hearing or disciplinary action. Many of our clients hire us to represent them during an initial audit, investigation, or controversy so that we can work to minimize their risks and negotiate with the appropriate parties early on.

Who Do You Represent in Licensing Hearings?

At Oberheiden, P.C., we are experienced in representing a wide range of medical care providers in a variety of licensing matters. These include (but are not limited to):

Health care law is our principal practice area. The attorneys in our firm are former federal prosecutors whose careers in the U.S. government were focused on health care prosecutions. Today, we are using our experience and insider’s perspective to represent the care providers themselves instead. We do that in criminal cases, civil cases, public relations matters, licensing hearings, and other medical board hearings.

We offer comprehensive and aggressive medical defense for virtually any legal issue you might face in the course of your medical career. Please don’t hesitate to reach out and talk to us about your legal questions or concerns. We are standing by — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — even on weekends.

This information has been prepared for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. While this information may constitute attorney advertising in some jurisdictions, merely reading this information does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different, any prior result described or referred to herein cannot guarantee similar outcomes in the future. Oberheiden, P.C. is a Texas limited liability partnership with its headquarters in Dallas, Texas. Mr. Oberheiden limits his practice to federal law.

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Oberheiden, P.C. is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and it assists clients with audits, investigations, and trial work nationwide. Call one of us today and benefit from our experience and industry knowledge in a free and confidential consultation.

NOTICE:All visitors to this Website are informed that Oberheiden, P.C. (“Firm”) affiliates with independent and separate attorneys (“Local Counsel”) and their respective law firms on a case by case basis. If and when this applies to a particular client, we will disclose the details to client in writing for their approval.

In some cases, pursuant to Rule 7.04 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct and the equivalent in other jurisdictions, a case is referred to a Local Counsel, the Firm will not participate in the representation. In such a case, client will sign an engagement exclusively with the Local Counsel.